As part of a new feature here in an effort to give you easily digestible content that gives you a wide range of opinions from throughout the Today’s Pigskin staff, three times a week we’ll be doing roundtables with a handful of our writers on prominent topics of the week. In our first edition, we’re taking a look at three fantasy football questions with five of our fantasy football writers.
Here’s what Andrew Watkins, Sam Robinson, Wes Anderson, Dave Holcomb and Adam Zdroik had to say:
1. Now that we’re closing in on the halfway point of the fantasy football season, who has been the most disappointing player in your mind and what should owners do with them moving forward?
Andrew Watkins: As always, there’s a multitude of candidates for most disappointing. Jeremy Hill and C.J. Anderson have betrayed many investors. But for his average draft position and the underwhelming returns he’s offered, Eddie Lacy’s the worst offender. He’s been a notoriously slow starter, but never for this long. He’s now got the bye week to rest up an ankle injury that may be worse than once thought before Green Bay returns for a daunting matchup with the Broncos’ defense. If you’ve got the depth then sit Lacy for that contest, but don’t quit on him – he’s still got the talent to be your second-half savior.
Adam Zdroik: There’s been a few notable busts, but C.J. Anderson takes the cake for me. Eddie Lacy still has a chance to come around after the bye week, but Anderson has been given a number of chances, yet still looks inferior to Ronnie Hillman. Even if Hillman got hurt, Anderson is averaging 2.7 yards per carry ahead of this week, which is pitiful for a guy rated as a Top 10 RB… or any running back for that matter. It’s hard not to drop him at this point, but if he does come around, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot. Ultimately, anyone that owns him is in a terrible spot.
Dave Holcomb: C.J. Anderson has to be the most disappointing fantasy football through six weeks. He is averaging 2.7 yards per carry and has failed to eclipse even the 50-yard mark in a single game this year. Anderson also has no touchdowns. There isn’t really much owners can do with him at this point. If there is room on the bench, I would move him there and hope he has a big second half like last year. Until then, he cannot be started.
Wes Anderson: A lot of people are probably thinking Peyton Manning but that writing was on the wall. So the most disappointing player in my mind is the Green Bay Packers’ Eddie Lacy. Going into the season, I had him as the No. 2 running back just behind the Steelers’ Le’Veon Bell and at this moment he is averaging just 5.8 fantasy points per game in ESPN leagues and has lost the bulk of his touches to James Starks. If you own him you have two options: 1. Trade him for another underperforming player that you see rebounding or 2. Holding on to him and praying he starts to get some touches.
Sam Robinson: C.J. Anderson. Although Broncos realists were rightfully suspicious of C.J. due to Denver’s offseason downgrade up front, he still was a first-round pick. Now usurped by career pace-changer Ronnie Hillman, Anderson (4.5 ypc in 2014; 2.7 now) has butchered owners’ seasons. 10-team leagues: don’t think about it. Drop. 12: drop for a promising free agent if you can spare it. More than that, you almost have to hold due to Hillman’s fumble- and injury-marred past, and the dire nature of the RB spot. Or try packaging Anderson in a deal to the less-knowledgeable football fan in your league.
2. We’re at a point in the season where waivers has gotten pretty thin and injury dependent, and so if you want to significantly improve your team you’ve got to make a trade. With that in mind, who is a player that you think can be had for a reasonable price that fantasy owners should be targeting at this stage of the season?
Watkins: LeGarrette Blount isn’t a guy you’ll have to break the bank for and, most weeks, he can be comfortably started for fantasy squads. Dion Lewis has garnered more attention and that’s not without reason – he’s a total-yardage maven. However, Blount’s out-carried him in each of New England’s past three games. Blount’s got 245 rushing yards and five total scores in that same span. Lewis will still get his–Tom Brady loves pass-catching backs like him–but Blount’s established his role as the lead ball-carrier in New England. With a tough matchup upcoming against the Jets, Blount won’t likely have a big day. That’ll open up a window for you to pounce on him for cheap.
Zdroik: I would look at players with favorable schedules on good offenses, which would mean the Colts, Falcons and Saints. Frank Gore has silently had a good season, while T.Y. Hilton has disappointed a bit. But after Indy’s Week 10 bye, Luck and company will be on cruise control against poor defenses. Even Ahmad Bradshaw can be considered. The same can be said about Willie Snead and Leonard Hankerson. Also, Tevin Coleman is a buy-low guy because Devonta Freeman can’t keep this up, can he?
Holcomb: I would trade for Martavis Bryant. He will still come pretty cheaply because he has only played one game, but he proved again in that one contest that he has the potential to be a fantasy monster. Bryant is a big red zone target because of his height, but he can also beat defenses with his speed. He can solidify the WR2 spot for any fantasy team.
Anderson: Although this guy isn’t a world beater one guy that I really like moving forward that can be had for a decent price is the Saints’ running back Mark Ingram. With his quarterback Drew Brees tossing the ball all over the field, the ball carrier is a threat for a touchdown or 100 yards on a weekly basis. In a thin running back market, he would a great RB2 for the remainder of the season with the Saints running backs having the eighth best strength of schedule for the rest of 2015.
Robinson: If an impatient owner in your league owns T.Y. Hilton, target him. The Colts are underperforming, he has one TD and a mostly cupcake-filled schedule in the second half. Jarvis Landry’s an easier get if a patient person owns T.Y. Zero receiving TDs, but he remains integral to Miami’s offense (10 targets in four games). Pouncing on the owner worried about Dan Campbell’s more run-oriented approach after Week 6’s three-catch, 42-yard showing would be prudent. His schedule isn’t as appealing as Hilton’s, but it’s not brutal. And the cost won’t be as high.
3. Plenty of owners are sitting pretty in their respective leagues at 5-1 or 6-0 right now, but how exactly do you specifically go about improving your roster when you’re in a situation where you’re at the bottom of the waiver order on a weekly basis?
Watkins: If you do currently boast a five- or six-win team then odds are you’re very deep, have Devonta Freeman or both. Give yourself a mid-season pat on the back, you deserve it. That said, you should always be actively seeking a way to improve your team. For instance, in one league I’m 5-1 and recently traded Chris Ivory for Odell Beckham. With LeSean McCoy, Lamar Miller and Dion Lewis – I had a back to spare. With Mike Evans as my second receiver, however, I sorely needed improvement. If you find yourself wrestling over two players at the same position every week, trade one. You could save yourself the headache and improve a weak spot.
Zdroik: For starters, join a league that doesn’t have waivers based on record. Otherwise, most good teams right now have solid, deep lineups. If that’s the case, it’s always a good move to make a 2-for-1 (or even 3-for-1) trade to get a Top 5 RB or WR. You’ll be giving away two starters that maybe you don’t use every week for one of the best player’s at his position. Obviously, you’ll want to target owners that lack depth at RB/WR and are maybe forced to start the aforementioned C.J. Anderson.
Holcomb: In that situation, it is important to stay in the win now mode. The teams that are struggling are going to target the players who give them the best long term value. Owners that are 6-0 or 5-1 can then find the best streaming options week-to-week. Your team is already has some of the best players since you are 6-0 or 5-1, so all you should need to stay on top is the best weekly streaming options.
Anderson: First off congrats on your hot start but of course your work isn’t done, as you want to hoist your league’s championship trophy at the end of the season. With not only a spot at the bottom of the waiver order as well as the lack of productive players available on the waivers, your strategy to improve your team has to be done through the trading game. You have to take a look at your expendable players and try to move them when they are at a high value while you likely will have to search for players that are underperforming but you expect to rebound.
Robinson: Be proactive. If you’re in a keeper league, target the floundering teams’ non-keeper-eligible stars since you’re going for a title and he/she’s likely not. Someone else in your league will do it, so sending out feelers now before weak teams are officially toast could benefit you before your rivals swoop in. In re-draft leagues, monitor bye week drops from owners with thinner or injury-plagued squads, as well as actual NFL teams’ philosophy changes and bad teams looking to determine the viability of their young talent during the stretch run.
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